1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to golf ball teeing apparatus which provides a continuing supply of golf balls for placement, on demand, on a tee in position to be driven by a golf club and, more particularly, to improved teeing apparatus which is of simplified construction, portable, and can be easily used.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Novices to the game of golf, as well as more experienced players, seek to practice the swings or strokes of their clubs, both for driving and for putting. Such practice may be for exercise, although more likely to correct imperfections in the golfer's game, to improve both accuracy and distance. As a result, over the years, golf driving ranges have developed, apart from golf courses, provided with a large number of teeing locations, one for each individual golfer. Under this arrangement, in typical fashion, a golfer purchases a basket or bucket of balls and proceeds to drive them out onto a grassed fairway provided with markers to indicate successive distances. Of course, such an operation requires that, after each swing of the club and resulting drive of a ball off the tee, the golfer reach down into the basket to retrieve a ball and place it on the tee for the next swing. Such effort is time consuming and requires bending of the back of the golfer which can become uncomfortable after a period of time.
For this reason, there have been numerous attempts in recent years to provide golf ball teeing apparatus which can be operated automatically and/or on demand to "tee-up" a ball for the golfer's next swing, without requiring the golfer to bend down for the purpose. To this end, many constructions have been suggested for holding a plurality of golf balls in reserve, then advancing them, one by one, on demand or automatically, to a tee which is properly positioned for the golfer to strike the ball with a club.
Such prior art devices have generally been of a variety of complex constructions, sometimes electronically controlled, and usually with complicated mechanical linkages. They have not generally enjoyed commercial success due at least in part to the high initial costs of such complicated systems and further to their uneconomical operating and maintenance costs.
Typical of such prior art devices are the constructions disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,779,540 to Haynes, U.S. Pat. No. 1,888,256 to Baumgartner, U.S. Pat. No. 2,711,321 to McGraw, Sr., U.S. Pat. No. 3,448,985 to Scott, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,458,204 to Wilson. In each instance, the mechanism is positioned beneath the level of the playing surface which would require that the device be permanently placed. In each instance, a foremost ball is advanced from a reserve of balls onto an initially depressed tee which is subsequently raised to an elevated position at a proper height for the ball to be driven off the tee. By reason of the construction of these devices requiring part of the structure to be located underground or beneath the playing surface, use by individual golfers away from a commercial golf driving establishment would not be readily feasible.
Other typical constructions are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,868,261 to Spencer and U.S. Pat. No. 1,937,180 to Young. While the major components of these devices are positioned above ground level, they too are of relatively complex construction. In addition, in each instance, the teeing member from which the ball is to be driven is integral with the remainder of the structure of the device. As a result, even if the teeing member is resilient as described in both patents, there is some amount of impact which must be absorbed by the rest of the structure of the device. This could be harmful to the device over an extended period of time. Furthermore, the teeing members are not of a conventional design which only support the ball at a minimized lowermost surface. Rather, in each instance, the teeing member supports the ball over an enlarged surface which would have an adverse effect on the impact of the club with the ball and the resulting delivery of the ball.
It was in light of the foregoing state of the prior art that the present invention was conceived and now has been reduced to practice.